


like the cat I have nine times to die

by tigriswolf



Series: comment_fic drabbles [2]
Category: DCU Animated, Under the Red Hood
Genre: Ambiguous/Open Ending, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-11-22
Updated: 2010-11-22
Packaged: 2017-10-26 06:39:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 332
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/279909
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tigriswolf/pseuds/tigriswolf
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>And the new kid, he looks so young, standing proud before the Joker, trying to hide the fear. But Jason's been there, and he can see how terrified the kid is.</p>
            </blockquote>





	like the cat I have nine times to die

**Author's Note:**

> Title: like the cat I have nine times to die  
> Fandom: Batman Under the Red Hood  
> Disclaimer: not my characters; title from Sylvia Plath  
> Warnings: AUish  
> Pairings: pre-Jason/Tim  
> Rating: PG  
> Wordcount: 330  
> Point of view: third  
> Prompt: DCU, Jason/Tim, A Lonely Place of Dying  
> Notes: All I know about Tim, I learned from fanfiction.

o

_the first time_

Alone but for the Joker's cackle, still echoing in the air. Whole body screaming, shutting down, and then, 3 2 1—

Even without the explosion, he was already dead.

_the second time_

Good Samaritans are hard to find, and far in-between, but she's a nurse and she sees him bleeding on the street and she actually keeps him alive—barely—until her sister brings around the car.

He wakes up unexpectedly and wonders, for a moment, why.

_the third, fourth, fifth, sixth time_

__Pure determination and will, hatred, fanatic need for vengeance: he will not die before he sees the Joker's broken corpse.

_the seventh time_

Batman pulls him from a fire. Patches him up at the Cave. He opens his eyes to see his Robin uniform and Alfred, a few tears on his face.

_the eighth time_

He's actually on vacation in Metropolis and Superman saves him, that time, when some new supervillian knocks down a building. Superman hugs him after he regains consciousness, holding him gently and saying, "I'm so glad you're not dead, Jason, no matter what you do now. But your heart has always been in the right place. You've just lost your way a bit."

_the ninth time_

The new kid, his _replacement_ , Bruce's newest _project_ , has a smart mouth and no idea of when to stay quiet. And the Joker, he has no patience with smartasses, unless they're him.

And the new kid, he looks so young, standing proud before the Joker, trying to hide the fear. But Jason's been there, and he can see how terrified the kid is.

Jason keeps waiting for Bruce to swoop in and save Robin, but he knows Batman will be too late.

So he plunges down, guns blazing, and the Joker takes three bullets—one between the eyes, one in the heart, one to his dick.

And this time, when the building explodes, Red Hood is covering Robin's body with his own, so Robin survives.

  



End file.
